


Complicated

by Shaderose



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguments, Break Up, Bullying, Established Relationship, Fights, Harley Keener is a mess, Harley why, High School, Hurt Peter Parker, Its ends happy i promise, M/M, Not in the first chapter tho, Peer Pressure, Peter Parker Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 00:58:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19779970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaderose/pseuds/Shaderose
Summary: "Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?I see the way you're acting like you're somebody else, gets me frustrated...Honestly you promised me I'm never going to find you fake it,No, no, no..."--Harley becomes someone different to fit in at school. Peter is frustrated with it, but let's it go, thinking he'll stop eventually and go back to being the person he loves. Then, Harley does something unimaginable, and everything comes to a head.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I get most of my oneshot ideas based off of songs, and this is no exception! (Although this one is a two parter, a twoshot? Lol)
> 
> This one is based off of "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne, if you couldnt tell by the summary lol
> 
> Its an angsty one, so buckle up folks. 
> 
> Second part should be out soon, as soon as I'm done writing it.
> 
> Enjoy!

Peter lets out a loud sigh as he reaches his locker, fiddling with the lock before opening it. It has been a long, long day. He had a surprise pop quiz in chemistry, and normally he's great at chem but he's been struggling with this unit in particular for some reason, so that went poorly, Ned was out sick with a head cold which just makes his day all the more sucky, not that he blames Ned for that, MJ has been in a bad mood lately for some reason that she won't tell anyone so Peter can't go to her either, and Flash decided to up his game today too because _of course he did_ , getting a bit physical with him instead of his usual taunting. So he spend the entire day stressed, tired, bullied, bruised and _alone_ , and all he wants to do is go home, cuddle up to his boyfriend and watch a movie. That sounds _fantastic_ right about now.

He swings his backpack on to his back, before shutting his locker. He hears commotion, familiar commotion, coming from down the hallway, and places his head against the locker, groaning to himself. Say his name, and he shall come. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, Peter loves Harley to bits. The issue with it is the other five that follow.

Peter tilts his head to the side, to see what was going on. It was nothing unusual, Thing 1 and Thing 2 were roughhousing with each other, while Thing 3, 4 and 5 all cheered them on. Peter had never bothered to learn their names and he still doesn't want to, doesn't feel the need to. They're all assholes and bad influences anyways. Harley stood beside them, not joining in the cheering but not stopping the fight either, a smirk that's so obviously fake to Peter on his face. He's not even looking at the fight, his beautiful sapphire eyes wandering around the hall for a while before they connect with Peter's.

His facade breaks for a second, his grin dipping and his head tilting, eyebrows furrowed as if to ask 'are you okay?'

Head against the locker, tilted to the side, frown on his face. Yeaaah, he probably looked pretty miserable. * _I feel pretty miserable._ * But he sends a small smile back anyways, lifting his head up, hopefully portraying the message of 'I'm alright.'

They had learned to speak in subtle gestures a while ago, back when this whole game started. When Harley told Peter he wasn't ready to come out to the school, and when he had became close friends with the dickwads, ultimately making him act like Peter was nothing more than an acquaintance at school. Peter had accepted to do it, to pretend, of course he had. He'd never force Harley or anyone to come out before they were ready, and he didn't want to make him uncomfortable, but it didn't mean Peter had to be happy with it. He didn't want to be ignored by his boyfriend for most of the day, he didnt want to pretend they were nothing, only to go home and have Harley kiss him silly, but Peter had agreed on the notion that it was what was best for Harley.

He wasn't so sure about that anymore. Harley has starting acting... Different. Wearing different clothes, to 'look cooler' for his 'friends' even though it just looks stupid to Peter, talking back in class which he used to never ever do, going out more, and coming back late. He seems to be becoming someone completely different, someone new, just because he feels like he has to fit in. But when it's just them together, at home, he's still the sweet, kind, caring, charming boy Peter fell in love with. He has tried telling Harley to just be himself, that Peter likes him for who he is, as do Ned and MJ, and that he doesnt have to pretend, but Harley won't listen, doesn't believe him. Its confusing and kind of scary to Peter. He doesn't know what to do, if there is anything he can do. Right now, he's just hoping it doesn't get any worse.

Peter tilts his head back, in a gesture of 'are you coming?' He always leaves before Harley does, so they aren't seen together (another one of Harley's paranoid rules due to his 'friends'), but normally Harley follows shortly after, and they meet up a little ways away where Happy picks both of them up.

Normally. But today, on one of the worst days Peter's had in a while, _today,_ Harley tenses, and gives Peter a sad, apologetic look, one he always gives when he isn't coming home for the night. Peter's stomach drops, his hopes shattered with one small look. Funny how that works.

His gaze drops to the floor, and he doesn't even bother to hide his hurt and frustration as he sharply turns heel and walks away from the group. He can feel Harley's stare burning into his back but he ignores it, wallowing in his misery. He just wanted a nice night in with his boyfriend, but no, he can't even have that today. God, he just wants to go home.

He walks a little ways away from the school, seeing the black incognito convertable _thankfully_ already there, waiting for him. He jumps in quickly, saying a short hi to Happy and buckling up, before staring out the window moodily. Happy doesn't even ask where Harley is, doesn't bother to anymore, he just starts the car and drives away.

Peter feels a vibrate in his pocket, and immediately knows who it's from. He shouldn't check it, he knows he shouldn't, but he does anyways. He always will for Harley, no matter how mad he is.

**'Im sorry baby. I'll be home for supper okay?'**

He shouldn't believe it. He shouldn't.

_**'Okay, you better!'** _

Harley doesn't come home for supper. Or the hour after. Or the hour after that.

When Peter finally goes to bed, sniffling, exhausted and still _alone_ , he makes sure to ask FRIDAY to lock his _and_ Harley's door. He can sleep on the couch tonight.

\--

It only gets worse after that. Harley stays out longer and longer, more and more frequently. He starts to come home smelling of cigarette smoke, something he _knows_ Peter can't handle due to his hightened senses, though he _says_ it isn't him that is smoking. He's more on edge, jumpy and snappy. They're getting into more and more fights, arguing about anything and everything under the sun, mostly Peter trying to tell him to knock it off, to stop being like this, and Harley not listening, saying that he can't, that he has to fit in, has to be part of the group, which Peter can't understand because isn't he enough? Why can't he be enough? Even Tony is getting a cold treatment from Harley nowadays. He keeps apologizing afterwards too, begging Peter to forgive him, but Peter's stopped believing it. His worst fears are coming true, and he's at his wits end. He doesn't know how much more of this he can take. How much more of the attitude, of the fighting, of the lies and pretending, of the loneliness, of the ache, all of it. He feels like everyday is adding more and more weight into his shoulders, building and building until one day he's just going to break. He just hopes, prays that it will never come to that, that Harley will change and go back to the way he used to be, to the person Peter fell in love with, to the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

But Peter should have known better. He has Parker Luck, after all.

He was on his way to his next class, calculus, when he feels the hairs on his arms stand up, and a tingle go down his back (* _Danger, not severe._ *) before a cry of pain echoes from behind him. He turns quickly, before freezing, his heart stopping. * _No, no... It couldn't be... He wouldn't..._ * Oh, but he was.

Standing a little bit away from him, surrounded by his usual posse, holding a shorter, smaller freshman against the lockers by the collar of his shirt, was none other that Harley Tyler Keener himself, a cold sneer Peter's never seen before on his face. Peter knows it's him, knows that this is his boyfriend of almost two years that he is staring at with his own two eyes, but... Peter can barley recognize him. Peter knew he was changing, knew he was going with the wrong group, knew he was becoming something bad, but... a bully? Something he used to tell Peter stories about, from his own experiences getting picked on at his old school? Something he used to tell Peter he would never let happen to him, that he'd rather _die_ than to let Peter get bullied? Something that he swore to protect others against, so they didn't end up like him? But now, suddenly, he had become it? How? _Why?_

He doesn't understand, he can't understand. His mind just kept repeating the cry of pain from the boy, the jeers and laughter of the surrounding group, of _Harley_ joining in with them, a voice that used to be so gentle and sweet to him, murmuring sweet nothings into his ear, that was now a low deep threatening growl, used to _hurt_ , to insinuate _fear_ into this poor child.

As the world catches up around him, his emotions swirl, constantly changing from one to the other (* _pain, anger, hurt, sorrow, confusion, frustration, why, why, why?!?_ *), and Peter _snaps._

He races forward into the circle, grabbing the person he promised to never lay a hand on (no, _not_ the same, they are _not_ the same person), and throwing him away from the boy, who drops to the ground before picking himself up and running away. Good, hopefully he won't get hurt anymore. "How _could_ you?!?"

Harley catches himself, rebalancing, turning back around about to snap before his face slackens with shock as he realizes exactly who pushed him away, the mask he always has on disappearing as his eyes widen in horror. "Pete?" It comes out as a shaky whisper, almost silent, but Peter hears it crystal clear anyways.

His hands are balled into fists, his entire body shaking with rage, frustration, fear, hurt, tears filling his eyes that he quickly blinks away. "He COULD you?!?" He roars again, taking another step towards his lover, his _ex-_ lover.

Harley takes a step back in response, arms waving frantically. "I- I can explain, I-"

"Explain what? How you beat on kids now, how you're a _bully_ now???" He spits the term out at him, and Harley's face scrunches up, tears filling his eyes.

"Peter, baby, please-"

"Do _NOT_ call me that! You lost that right the minute you decided to hurt someone else!" He takes another step forward, Harley taking a step back. Peter's chest is heaving, his lungs aching, his throat burning with his yells, and he knows he has drawn the attention from everyone else in the hallway now, their eyes soaking up all the drama they can get, but he doesn't _care_ , not anymore.

"I could deal with you changing your clothes." Another step forward, Harley copying with another step back."I could deal with you staying out all night." Another step. "I could deal with you coming home smelling like cigarettes and weed." Step. "I could deal with you starting to be a dick towards our family." Step. "Hell, I could deal with you being a dick towards me!" Harley's back is now pressed against a completely different set of lockers at the end of the hallway, his expression full of hurt, sorrow, _regret_ , tears streaming down his face but Peter. Doesn't. Care. Can't care. _Won't_ care. "But for you to yell at someone else," Another step. "to pick on someone else," Another step. He's almost flush against Harley now. "to _bully_ someone else, someone _innocent_ who did _nothing_ wrong except _exist_ , when you _know_ what it does to people, what it does to _me_ , what it did to _you,_ " He gets right up in Harley's face, screaming now. " _that_ is completely and utterly UNACCEPTABLE!"

His body jerks with a sob, tears finally overflowing over his face, his anger fading into pure, crushing, destroying _pain_ , his heart cracking, breaking, crumbling, knowing what he has to do. "And I won't have any part of it." His voice is a whisper now, quiet and broken. "Not anymore."

Harley gasps slightly, his face crumbling. "No, please- Peter, I'm sorry, I-"

He reaches for Peter's arm, but he just takes a step back, away from Harley. He shakes his head, biting his bottom lip to keep his sobs quiet. "Sorry doesn't cut it, Harley."

A hand grabs at his shoulder as he turns to walk away. " _Please_ , please, just give me a chance to explain, please-" He sounds so desperate, pleading, begging, his voice shattering, and Peter longs to give it to him, to give him another chance, to hold him and tell him everything will be okay. But he can't. He won't. Because it won't be okay. It _isn't_ okay. And Peter isn't standing for it anymore.

He just shakes his head again, and jerks the grip off of his shoulder, storming away from the broken man he's leaving behind. He can hear the mutters, the chatter of the school with a new piece of drama, _his_ drama, and searches for a emergency exit, pushing through it as soon as possible. He collapses onto the ground, head in his hands, body quaking and shuttering with uncontrollable sobs, his unfiltered _heartbreak_ echoing loudly in the big, quiet, empty field.

He doesn't know how long he stays there, completely breaking down, until Ned somehow finds him and ushers him back inside, murmuring reassurances as he drags him to the office. Peter doesn't say anything, just following Ned blindly, his heart longing with every beat for a boy he now knows no longer exists.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2!
> 
> WARNING: this chapter contains a few homophobic slurs, and quite a bit of colourful language, whoops. Don't read if either of that bothers or triggers you. Be safe!
> 
> This is a lot longer than expected, and it kind of got away from me a bit. Hopefully its still a decent ending to this story lol
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!

Harley watches as the boy of his dreams runs off, crying and utterly _heartbroken_ because of him. All because of _him._

Harley knows he should run after him, convince him to not do this, not let him go, not let this go * _please god don't let this go_ *. He knows he should be feeling something, should be sobbing, screaming, punching, yelling, _anything_... But Harley doesn't. He stands there, unmoving, at the end of the hallway, his back cold against the lockers, tears falling down his face and dripping onto the floor, and he feels nothing. Numb. Empty.

He deserves this. He gave into peer pressure, was an ass to everyone around him, especially Peter (* _god Pete I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-_ *) and these are the consequences. Plain and simple.

"What was that, dude?" Bryan strolls up to him, casual, like Harley's entire world wasn't just destroyed in front of him. In front of all of them. In front of the entire school.

"Yeah, you know Penis Parker?" Charlie pops up behind him, his voice slow and lax, as per usual, probably high out of his mind. Wouldn't surprise him.

Harley doesn't answer, doesn't have the energy to, or the motivation to. Doesn't see a point to. He just stares ahead, blankly, not noticing the tears still rolling down his cheeks.

Darren snorts, standing beside Bryan, leaning against the wall, looking smug like always. "Why're you crying for Penis anyways? He's just a nobody."

* _He's not a nobody. He's so so much more than a nobody._ *

"Yeah! It was kind of funny to watch him freak though. I hope someone caught it on camera." Kyle retorts from behind the group, barely paying attention, focusing on the phone in his hand.

* _Oh god, please, no_ *

"Don't worry," Another voice, Luke, chips in suddenly, a wide grin on his face, shaking a phone in his hand. "I got you covered."

* _No, no, no,_ *

"Oh man, Luke coming in clutch!" Kyle cackles like a hyena about to get his pray, putting his phone away and stepping fully into the circle. "You gotta show us man, come on."

* _Nonononono, you can't, you can't-_ *

Harley can't let them play that video, can't let them humiliate Peter like that. He can't let that video get around, he can't, he's- he's gotta do something! (* _I should have done something a long ass time ago-_ *)

The group huddles together, just far enough apart to not be touching (cause god forbid they touch each other) with Luke sticking his phone out so they can all see. Just as he's about to press play, Harley jumps into action, snatching the phone out of his hand and chucking it on to the ground, smashing it, tiny pieces of the screen scattering across the floor.

"What the fuck?!?" Luke yells out, crouching down next to his phone, seemingly trying to salvage it somehow.

"What the hell was that, man???" Bryan stomps up to Harley, threateningly.

Harley lifts his chin up, trying to act uneffected, unafraid. "I'm not letting you embarrass Peter like that."

"Oh, it's _Peter_ is it?" Charlie sneers, stepping up beside Bryan, on his left.

Harley blinks at him, acting dumbfounded. "Uh yeah? That's his name?"

Harley gets shoved suddenly by Bryan, and has to regain his balance quickly in order to stop himself from falling over. "Don't get smart with us, Harley."

"Yeah, what's up with you anyways?" Darren stands to Bryan's right, and Harley tries to subconciously take a step back, only to realize he's still pressed up against the lockers, with his 'friends' surrounding him on all sides. "You were all good until Penis showed up."

"I wasn't 'all good' until then! I didn't want to do any of that to the kid, I didn't want to do _any_ of this," he grabs at his clothes, clothes that he hates with a burning passion, heavy and thick on his body. "You guys told me too!" * _But you agreed to it. It was your choice to listen. And now everything is ruined._ * He glares harshly at Darren, ignoring his stomach churning at the horrible realization, the horrible truth. "And his name is _Peter_."

"What's with you and him? Getting all whiny when he yelled, crying when he left. What is he, your _boyfriend_?" Charlie sneers the term at him, and Harley laughs humorlessly, turning his glare on Charlie.

"Yeah, he is." * _Was_ *, his mind corrects and a knife goes though his chest at the thought, practically knocking the breath out of him. * _He_ was _my boyfriend. Before I fucked it all up._ *

Bryan steps forward again, into Harley's personal space, growling under his breath. "You're a _fag_? Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Harley feels his own frustration starting to bubble over, tired of the facade, tired of acting, tired of faking, tired of it all, and matches Bryan's step, getting up into his face. "You got a problem with that?!?"

Sharp pain shoots through his right cheek as Bryan lands a harsh punch, right above his jaw. Harley sees red, and tries to throw one back, but his arms get held back by the other two, forcing Harley against the lockers and holding him there. Bryan lands blow after blow, another punch to the face, his eye this time, a punch to the gut, having the air actually knocked out of him, and a knee to the groin to top it all off. All Harley can do is struggle unsuccessfully and take it. His arms are dropped and he collapses onto the floor, curling into a ball, gasping for air and groaning at the waves of agony surging through his body.

He can barley hear Bryan's words through the ringing in his ears. "Yeah, actually, I do. Should've known you were a fag. You're _pathetic_. Come on boys, let's go."

Harley lets them leave, staying curled on the floor, slowly catching his breath, his newfound energy gone. Suddenly, everything catches up to him, and a wave of emotions floods over him at full force. God, what has he done? Not only did he ruin everything with Peter (* _god I ruined everything-_ *), but now he doesn't even have his group anymore. Not that he really wants them.

He was so stupid. So unbelievably stupid. How could he have let it get this far? He had just wanted to be popular. To be noticed. To have someone see him, actually see him, and not see his sexuality, his 'queerness' like his last school had. But look at where that got him. The best thing in his life is gone, the ones he called friends were truly backstabbing assholes (* _like Peter said, I should've listened to him, I should've listened-_ *) and now said assholes know His deepest, darkest secret, that he's gay. Which means the whole school will know by next period. _Everyone will know._ Everything, every single thing he was trying to avoid, and now it was all happening. It was his new reality. And it was All. His. Fault.

Tears burn at his eyes, his face flooded as he takes a shaky breath and stands slowly, groaning lowly as his body aches. He bites his bottom lip, forcing himself not to crumble, not to break down, not here, not now, not out in the open. He wraps an arm loosely around his stomach, where most of his pain is coming from (he probably has multiple bruises there) and slowly limps his way to the bathroom, shutting and locking a stall as soon as he enters.

He puts a fist up to his mouth, finally allowing himself to let go, his body lurching forward with his silent, agonizing sobs. He bites his fist hard to keep himself quiet, the only audible sounds being his shaky gasping and one or two quiet whines that sneak through.

Everything is gone. Everything is ruined, and Harley has nobody else to blame but himself.

\--

Harley walks to their spot anxiously, still slightly limping but much better than before, making sure to keep his head down, his face almost parallel to the ground. After his... _moment_ , he looked in the bathroom mirror to check and see if he really looked as awful as he felt (he did), only for him to realize that his left eye was surrounded in dark blues and purples, in the shape of a fist. He must have received a black eye in his beating, which was just fantastic. Icing on the cake, really. The rest of the day, he had kept his head down, praying it wasn't super noticable. Not like that was what people were looking at him and whispering about anyways. They had much more interesting things to talk about him from behind his back, like the fight, like the beating, like his gayness. And Harley heard it all.

"Oh my god, did you hear about what happened earlier?"

"Parker _went off_ on him dude, it was crazy!"

"Bryan fucked him up, man! Beat the shit out of him!"

"Did you hear he was Harley's boyfriend?!"

"Boyfriend? You mean-"

"Yeah, he's _gay!_ "

"Doesn't surprise me, my gaydar totally went off on him."

" _Gay?_ What a freak!"

And that's not including how MJ glared at Harley for the rest of the day, whenever they had class together, making him feel even lower than low, like the worst person on the planet. Not like he didn't feel like that as it was.

Suffice to say, Harley had wanted to get out of that hellish building as soon as physically possible. So when the final bell finally rang, he had booked it out of the building and towards where him and Peter always meet up while they waited for Happy.

But now that he was almost there, his stomach was twisting into knots and his heart was beating faster and faster with every step. He hasn't seen Peter since everything went down, not that he expected to after he fucked everything up. But he wasn't even in the classes they normally have together, and Harley couldn't find him at all in the hallways. As much as he didn't deserve to, he couldn't help but to worry, and he kind of hoped to see Peter at their spot, just to know he was okay. As okay as he could be.

Luckily (or unluckily) for him, as Harley lifts his eyes to look ahead, he can see that Peter is indeed at their spot, but he looks _destroyed_. His whole upper body is hunched over, shoulders shaking slightly as if he were sniffling, his face (while mostly hidden to Harley due to the angle) is noticeably red and blotchy, and he has his arms wrapped around himself, as if giving himself a hug, giving himself comfort. If Harley's heart wasn't broken enough before, it was completely shattered now. Seeing this boy he loves, honest to god truly loves (* _I never told him that. I never told him that I love him oh god-_ *) completely ruined, because of _him_...

Their eyes connect. Normally, Peter would be smiling wide, calling out "Harls!" and hugging him tightly, kissing him gently, asking about his day. Now, they connect only for a second (* _red, swollen, bloodshot eyes, all your fault, all your fault-_ *), before Peter tenses up and looks away, shifting to put more space between them, as much space as possible, he suspects.

And now Harley's heart was tiny flecks of dust, slowly drifting away in the light spring breeze.

He turns around, planning to walk away, to find another way home because he doesn't deserve it, doesn't deserve a ride back to the tower, doesn't deserve to sit in the same car as Peter, doesnt deserve to be around Peter at all, doesn't deserve to breath the same air as Peter. He doesn't deserve any of it. But before he can take the first step, he can hear the familiar honk of the convertable, and can hear it pulling off on to the curb.

He turns back around, head still down, and waits for Peter to get in first. Normally, Harley would hold the back door open for him, and Peter would smile, big and beaming, teasing about how much of a gentleman he was. Now, he got in the front seat, next to Happy, the farthest seat away from where he knows Harley will sit.

Harley grits his teeth, tears once again burning at the edges of his eyes, but he refuses to let them fall this time. He doesn't deserve to cry, not when Peter is going through so, so much worse (* _my fault, my fault, myfaultmyfaultmyfault-_ *). He gets in the back of the car, slamming the door behind him and murmuring a quick hello to Happy before buckling up.

"Hey kid," Happy flicks his eyes to Harley through the mirror, before he does a double take, his eyes widening slightly. "Shit, what happened to you?"

* _Damn it, of course he'd notice._ * Harley sinks further into his seat, pressing his head down more even if hiding the bruise is pointless now. He turns to look out the window, murmuring "Nothing. Let's just go."

"You sure? That looks pretty bad." Happy sounds surprisingly worried, for someone Harley thought didn't really care. He always seemed annoyed at him, seemed irritated to have to drive them everywhere. * _He probably is, I'm just imagining things._ *

Harley just nods in response, and Happy gives him a gruff "If you're say so" before pulling off of the curb, finally getting into the road. Finally driving them back home. Harley just wants to get into his bed, close his eyes, and pretend everything was a dream. That he'll wake up, Peter cuddled up against his side, the small, kind smile he adores on his face, and that everything will be okay again. But that's not very fair, is it? He's caused Peter so much pain, broke his heart in two, absolutely destroyed his trust, and now Harley wants to run away and hide? That's not fair of him. Not fair of him at all. Maybe he should force himself to stay awake, to stay in this hole he dug himself into, to make sure he feels all of the pain, all of the guilt. A punishment for everything he's done.

Minutes pass like hours as they drive through the city, the only noise a light hum from the motor of the car. The silence is deafening, the tension chokingly thick, and Harley thinks it'll stay that way all the way until they get to the tower. But, randomly, unexpectedly, the silence breaks.

"...did they do that to you?"

Peter's voice is quiet, monotone, emotionless, and extremely hoarse, like he's been screaming for hours on end. * _He probably has._ * Harley can barley recognize that it's him speaking, and he feels like absolute shit, knowing _he_ is the reason that Peter is like this, that Peter is acting so unlike himself. Even Happy looks over to him with a shocked, concerned expression on his face at his tone.

Harley swallows to try and remove the lump growing in his throat, failing miserably, and just settles on a shrug. He doesn't know if Peter is looking at him, and he doesn't check, knowing that he'll probably break down if he does. That's the last thing he wants right now.

Apparently Peter _is_ looking at him, because he responds to his shrug with a low, sharp, warning " _Harley_ ". Harley flinches, knowing that that is Peter's polite way of saying 'You better tell me the truth or I swear to god-'

So, like the dumbass he is, he dodges the question. Kind of. "You were right." He makes sure his voice is just loud enough for Peter to hear, his gaze shifting onto the door frame, his vision blurring slightly. "They weren't good for me. My 'friends'. They were assholes, just like you said they were. And they left me, just like you said they would." He chances a glance at Peter, seeing him looking over his shoulder at Harley, his cheeks scarlet red, blotchy, tearstains marking them noticeably, his normally warm brown eyes cold and empty. Harley swallows again, but holds his gaze long enough to say, full earnest, "You were right."

Peter just keeps staring for a while, contemplative, not moving, and Harley has to look away eventually, focusing on back of Peter's chair instead, still trying to keep his emotions at bay. He sees Peter shift out of the corner of his eye, turning back to the window and the car goes back to toxic silence.

Harley glances outside for a brief second, seeing that they're almost to the tower. He knows he won't have the chance to tell Peter anything once they get there, knowing Peter will most likely lock himself in Tony's lab or in his room as soon as they arrive. Now is the only chance he gets. And if he has learned anything from today, it's to not let your chances to go waste. They may be the last ones you get after all.

So, he blinks back his tears, holds down his panic, fear, dread, guilt, the deep ache growing inside of him, and confesses. "I told them."

Peter doesn't move, doesn't show any signs of having heard what Harley said. But he just keeps talking, hoping that Peter is listening, praying that he isn't being ignored, even if he wouldn't blame Peter if he was. "I told them the truth. About me. About us. Er, a-about what we used to be." His voice cracks, and he clears his throat, hoping that it'll help stop the breaking (it doesn't). "T-That's why..." He gestures to his face, beaten and bruised, sniffling quietly before dropping his arm again. "The whole school knows now. About me. And... About you too. And I'm- I'm not telling you that to try and get you to change your mind, or- or for you to feel bad. I-I deserve everything I got today." He sniffles, casting his eyes upwards to try and stop himself from crying. "I just- you d-deserve to know, that's all."

There's a pause, a moment, before a blunt, to the point, "The school knows about me?"

Harley shut his eyes, a few tears leaking out, and nods slowly, croaking out a quiet, broken "y-yeah".

Another pause. "Okay. I can work with that." Cold. Uncaring. _Dismissive._

Harley can't take it anymore. He feels his pain, guilt, agony overflow, and he lurches forward, curling up in his seat, head in his hands, his body wracking with quiet, harsh sobs. "I'm _sorry,_ Peter. I-" A gasp for breath. "I-I know you won't believe me, a-and you have e-every right not to, but I'm _so sorry_." His voice is breaking, cracking all over the place, full of the grief he had been trying so desperately to hide. "I-I know I messed everything up, a-and I know I can't fix it, but I just-" An uncontrollably loud sob breaks through. "I just don't want to lose you!"

He barely hears the light sigh Peter exhales through his harsh cries, before he murmurs, His voice much softer but still strong, stern, "Harley, you can't keep doing this. Sneaking out, getting pissy at everyone, doing things you know are bad and then apologizing like that'll make everything better. You did something awful today, something I never _ever_ thought you'd do. But you did." His voice starts to sound strained, and Harley shutters with another sob, guilt cutting through him like a hot knife, bubbling and scarring with each slice. "You've changed so much, Harley, and I... I don't even know if I know who you are anymore."

"You do! I'm- I'm still me, I-"

"The Harley I know would _never_ bully someone." He cuts Harley off, cold and harsh again and Harley almost wants to wail. He doesn't know how to fix this, how does he fix this? How can he fix this?? * _He's gonna leave, he's gonna leave me and then I'll be all alone. All alone, and its all my fault._ *

* _But he's right. And you know it. This is what you deserve._ *

Harley shakes his head, trying to get rid of his thoughts. " _Please_ Peter, I-I know I did something bad, something really, _really_ bad, but I- I won't do it again! I won't do any of this ever again, I-I swear that I won't, I-" Harley wipes his nose with his sleeve, sniffling, heaving for every breath, "I'm- I just- I-I know I ruined this, Peter, ruined _us_ , and- and I don't e-expect you to forgive me, or- or to take me back, but I just- I just- I _can't_ lose you, not completely, I- I can't, I just can't, please don't make me lose you, _I can't_ -"

There's another sound, an exhale of breath, and a car door suddenly opens before being slammed shut. Harley hadn't even realized they had stopped. Hasn't even realized Happy was already gone. * _He left. He just got up, and left._ * Harley crumbles even more, moaning loudly in the quiet, empty car.* _He doesnt even want to be around me. God, I ruined everything! I fucked everything up, it's all my fault, he's gone and it's all my fault, oh god, it's all my fault-_ *

Then, another door opens, the one right next to Harley, and a hand is placed on his back, rubbing small circles soothingly, carefully, that just causes Harley to bawl even more. There's a few minutes of this, of Harley crying borderline hysterically and Peter silently reassuring him, before Peter whispers gently, "You aren't going to lose me, Harley." Harley almost sobs in relief, but Peter continues before he can, voice hardening again. "But you can't act like that anymore. I won't let you. And I definately won't stand for it next time. You go back to the way you were today, you lay another hand on a kid who doesn't deserve it, and I _will_ be gone for good. No second chances, no forgiveness, _nothing._ Got it?"

"I won't, I promise, I won't, never again. I'll- I'll change, I'll be better, I promise, I-"

"No, don't _change,_ that's not what I'm saying." He sounds irritated now, and Harley flinches. Peter must have noticed, because he softens slightly, his hand pressing down a little harder. "Don't be someone you're not, Harley. Be _yourself_ , please." He urges, almost begs, and Harley nods quickly, almost frantically.

"O-okay, I will, I-I promise." He leans experimentally towards Peter, testing the waters, but when he doesn't pull away, he rests the rest of his weight against his bony frame, burying his face into his shoulder, the light smell of cinnamon and laundry detergent, the smell that is so distinctively _Peter_ , relaxing him instinatiously and making him realize that this is actually happening, * _he's actually forgiving me_ *. "Thank you, thank you, thank you-" he chants over and over, his sobs lessening now that he's in Peter's arms, that he knows he's not going away, that he is not going to lose him.

Peter sighs one last time, not happily, but quiet and gentle, his hand running up Harley back, over his neck and into his hair, playing with it as he wraps his other arm around Harley's shaking figure and pulls him in closer.

Things aren't better, aren't okay between them. Not yet. They probably won't be for a while. But Harley will be damned if he doesn't try his hardest to be better in the future. To learn to love himself for who he is, and to not become someone new for others, like Peter was trying to teach him. To make it up to Peter, for everything he's done, no matter what, or how long, it takes. And, most importantly, to ensure that this never, ever, happens again.

And, as the months go by, Harley sticks to his word, his promise, and stays true to himself at home and at school. He doesn't wear big, baggy clothes anymore, or stay out all night. He doesn't snap at people, or act like he's better than anyone else. And he definitely doesn't pick on anyone else, he never will again for as long as he lives. He may not be popular, he may not be noticed for anything but his sexuality (may not be noticed at all, if he's being honest), and he may be getting bullied by the same people he used to call his friends. But now, he has a friend group of two who he knows truly care about him, the _r_ _eal_ him, and a boyfriend, who decided to give their love life a second chance a few months after giving Harley his, who he is so, so, _so_ unbelievably thankful for. Who he is holding on to and never letting go again, for as long as Peter lets him.

He may not have gotten exactly what he wanted in the beginning, but now he has everything he could have ever asked for. And, honestly? Harley has never be happier.


End file.
